If you’re reading this article, you’re most likely already thinking about business ideas for 2011. Most of the articles you’ll see on the Internet about this subject will talk about trends in the business world, what consumers want and what’s happening with the economy. All of that is important, but you might want to consider two other things too. Together they make up something we call the e-center.

But, first a little history on how the whole concept of the e-center came about.

We asked our most highly successful clients what made their first business a success. They identified these seven traits:

Passion
Hard work
Perseverance
Persistence
Not accepting, “I can’t”
Listening to your customers
Connecting with others

First on the list was passion, but that’s not enough by itself to be successful. There are plenty of people wandering the streets who are passionate about something, yet no one is giving them any money for that passion.

There are actually three key ingredients to finding that sweet spot in the market where making money becomes effortless: Your Entrepreneurial Abilities, Your Emotional Charge, and the Economics of Your Marketplace. We touched on that in the last chapter.

When you find that sweet spot where all three intersect, you can focus on that spot as the core competency of your business. There, you’ll be able to find that your work days feel like play while the money rolls in. It’s only when you forget one of those three key ingredients that your business will feel like drudgery or that you are always struggling for money.

Finding Your e-Center

Your Entrepreneurial Abilities: What can you do best in the world?

First, what is it that you do that you do extraordinarily well? Or, what is something that you could be phenomenal at with some practice and training? In Good to Great, author Jim Collins referred to this entrepreneurial quality as being the “best in the world.” That’s probably the best definition that there is.

What do you, and your company, do that is best in the world? Where do your unique talents and abilities lie? What are the things that you do, or your company does, that others notice as extraordinary and different from the average, run of the mill accomplishments?

That’s it, plain and simple. Don’t be afraid. You’re not asking for criticism or negative feedback. We predict you’ll be astounded by the positive results.

As the responses come back, look at them. What resonates for you? What is it that you and your business do that could make you the best in the world?

Your Emotional Charge: What are you passionate about?

Now, look at what you’re passionate about. It’s okay if it’s something wildly different from the items in your Entrepreneurial Abilities circle. Passion isn’t a mild, “I like doing this.” Passion is jumping out of bed, alive every morning, excited to be doing the work you’re doing. Passion is knowing that what you do is important to you and to others as well.

Have you ever had a day where you worked really hard, yet you had more energy at the end of the day than you did when you started? That’s the type of passion that we’re talking about. What is it that gives you that kind of fire? What are you passionate about?

Your Economic Marketplace: What do your customers want and need?

There are books on the marketplace that will tell you that if you simply do what you love, you’ll get rich. The problem with that is, no matter how much you love it, if you can’t convince your prospective customers that you can give them something they want or need, nobody’s going to buy it.

It’s possible to create marketing campaigns that build demand for something brand new. For example, who knew you would need a Pet Rock?, until Gary Dahl told us about them in 1975? Or for that matter, who had even heard of an iPod? or the concept of one, prior to 2001?

In both cases, though, there was a human need or want that was just waiting to be fulfilled.

The easiest way to sell something is to offer a solution for something that people already know they need or want. In other words, you don’t have to spend as much money building the demand. You may have to work at getting the word out about your product or service, but at least you don’t have to explain to people why they need your solution.

Find the spot where your Entrepreneurial Abilities, Emotional Charge, and Economic Marketplace intersect.

That’s the Sweet Spot of your business. When you can focus on what you do best, what you love to do and what your customer wants, you have a wining formula for business ideas for 2011 and beyond.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_Kennedy

For years, local business owners have struggled with online marketing in their attempts to connect with local customers looking for their services.

The term local businesses are predominately small business, known as “Mom-n-Pop” businesses. Both “Mom” and “Pop” often wear many hats running their businesses. As such, the daunting task of learning how to market online and then mastering what they learn has evaded them for the most part.

Small, local businesses are the backbone of every community and most don’t have the staffing needed to do their marketing for them. Some owners have hunkered down, so to speak, and learned internet marketing but those are far and few between.

The good news is that now local business owners can “have their cake and eat it too” because the new Google Place Page gives them a local online presence and doesn’t require internet marketing skills to set up.

Any type of local business qualifies for a Google’s new mini-website format and Business Listing to boot. From restaurants to retailers, from service providers to medical and legal professionals, any type of business whose customers are in their local area can get a Place Page.

Each Place Page can be customized with pictures, photos, images, logos, certifications and even YouTube videos to create a unique look and feel for each business. Many details can be added such as business name, location, phone, website, email, hours of operation, types of products and services provided, types of payments accepted, directions, a map, a special invitation from the owner, discounts or coupons and a full description of all the services provided.

Many business owners across the country are already enjoying the benefits of making a good strong positive impression in their local community with their very own site from Google. Not overly difficult for the “do-it-yourself” business owner, Place Pages put a new face on your business.

The key to setting up your site is to be organized before you begin. You’ll want to develop your Business Profile and then build your Place Page site with the details from the profile. If you just go in and start adding information without an organized plan, your site runs the risk of looking haphazard.

Having your own Place Page from Google is a huge boost for any local business because it gives you the opportunity to give your customers all the information they need to know about your business in one place.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Garrett_Christianson

Many people have turned their love of cooking and entertaining into a good living by starting catering businesses.

Catering is a multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. and as one of the fastest growing segments of the food and beverage industry, the catering business offers great opportunities for those wanting to start a small business with a low start up cost.

In this article we will look at catering business profits, earnings and salaries and how much money it is really possible to make in this industry. Then we will examine some of the things that separate the really successful players from the amateurs.

Is a $100,000 Yearly Profit Possible in Catering?

Many people consider a $100,000 pre-tax salary or profit to be a benchmark for success and they wonder if they can reach this level of earnings in catering.

Most small catering business owners who put in the effort can expect to earn between $20,000 and $40,000 profit per year for the owner during the first couple of years. After a couple of years in the business, you can easily scale up to earning a ‘six figure’ annual income from catering.

Tips for Getting to the ‘Six Figure’ Level

1) Forget catering from your home kitchen if you want to get to this salary level. Business savvy caterers do volumes that require them to either rent commercial kitchen space by the hour, arrange access to restaurant kitchens during off-hours or focus on ‘on-premises’ jobs only and use the kitchens of their clients.

2) Successful players love spending time creating menus, following food trends and interacting with people without neglecting the business side of catering.

3) Start to create a powerful brand right from the start with your logo, company values and unique service that will grow into a valuable asset that allows you to command a premium price for your catering services in the market.

4) Develop systems for every part of your business to streamline day-to-day operations. Analyze the way that you and your staff work and strive to increase productivity.

5) Understand that there are ‘niche’ markets within the catering industry that you would never think of until you really start looking. Top caterers find these untapped opportunities, and carve out a business catering to the specific needs of these groups.

6) Perfect the process of consulting with new clients and learn how to politely up-sell them on some of your more expensive offerings.

7) Realize that you are leaving money on the table if you don’t also up-sell additional event related services to your customers.

Learn how to hire, train and organize a small team to assist you with food preparation, delivery, service, and even sales if you want a realistic chance of getting to an income level above $100,000.

9) Don’t neglect traditional advertising methods but also pursue other modern marketing methods such as networking, cross promotions and guerilla marketing.

10) Successful caterers also recognize the importance of customer referrals. Customers may introduce friends to you because they like your food and services but there are also other ways to get them talking about your company.

To get started on the right track, do as much reading as you can about general small business management and the catering business specifically. Many highly successful caterers have published start up guides and you have a chance to learn from their mistakes instead of making your own and you can benefit from their expert advice and insider tips.

It is possible to make a lot of money in the catering business if you put in the effort. Reaching a level of earnings that will allow you to make a ‘six figure’ salary from your catering business is entirely possible within your first two years in business.

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Setting your own schedule. No corporate meetings. Ah, wouldn’t that be the life? For many people around the globe, working for themselves, from their home, on their own time schedule, is a life that they dream of. The idea of being your own boss is appealing to many because of the freedom it inherently creates. For thousands of people, this dream is becoming a reality. Especially since the advent, and now ridiculous growth of the internet, working for yourself while making a profit is something that is very feasible! Following are five ideas for starting a legitimate, profitable home business that you can manage by yourself, from your own computer! Say goodbye to set work schedules, whiny co-workers, and uptight bosses- and hello to your future.

eBay Seller. Who hasn’t heard of eBay these days? As the most popular and widely used internet auction site, eBay attracts millions of users from around the world. And yes, there are people out there (besides the ones running or working for the site) that are utilizing it to create profit for themselves! Especially if you have the space to store items- think of it as your own mini personal warehouse- this could end up being a business that is fun and profitable. Buying other people’s old junk and re-selling it to others for a slightly higher price is a business practice that has been around for a while.

Become an Affiliate Marketer. One of the fastest growing online industries is that of affiliate marketing. Affiliate programs entail promoting existing business’s products, and then selling them to earn a commission. This business avenue is appealing to many because it requires little upfront costs (as opposed to something like opening up a brick and mortar store)- with affiliate marketing, your presence can be entirely online! Sure, there are learning curves for people who are not familiar with internet marketing, but if you take the time, patience, and are willing to put in some resources to help you learn, you could certainly be on your way to success.

Web-Site Design. With the growth of online businesses, there is a ton of demand for people who know their way around basic programming to design websites for businesses.This is a great industry to get into because almost every business owner who does not have an online presence knows that they should. Many just don’t have the knowledge to design a site! If you know some programming, or are willing to learn, the potential for customers is great.

Promote a Service. Many people have passions and skills that the enjoy as hobbies, but have never thought about making a living off of. Do you like to cook? Put together a seasonal cook book. Start out selling it in your neighborhood, then expand your market as your profits start growing. Enjoy making jewelry? Create an account on an online jewelry auction site and post some of your pieces for sale there. The key here is doing something you ALREADY know how to do! Taking a passion and turning it into a business gives you return two-fold; not only are you going to be making money, but you’ll get to spend even more time doing something you already enjoy!

Start an Online Editing Business. There will almost always be people out there looking for others to proofread their work. Start by promoting your services on craigslist or some other similar classified site. From there, once you have completed a few projects, create a profile on an online business directory promoting your service. The benefits of a service like this is that you are completely in control of what projects you take on- no one is your customer unless you specifically okay it! Little projects on the side can add up to a considerable chunk of extra spending money in the long run.

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How much effort do you put into writing your business card copy? Do you add the “traditional” information – company name, tagline, your name, and a phone number – or do you really dig into the copy and develop a headline and a strong call-to-action? If you’re not using every bit of your business card to market your business, you can rest assured that it will likely be tossed into a forgotten pile of other unmemorable business cards.

Think of your business card copy as prime real estate for marketing your business. Every space on that card has the potential to turn a profit or turn away a prospect. Use it wisely, and you can rest assured that your cards will work for you. Waste the potential, and all you have is hope that you’ll get a return call.

If you want to add more bang to your business cards, here are seven tips that can transform your card from a piece of simple cardstock to a money-generating mini billboard:

Use color. It’s always a good idea to use color on your business cards because they’ll stand out in a stack. Chances are that the recipient has a few other business cards in his or her desk or wallet, so you’ll want to make sure that your card draws attention. Avoid being overly showy; just find a card that makes the statement you want to convey with eye-catching designs that aren’t too complicated.
Add a headline. Do you want your business card to be a calling card or marketing media? When you add a headline, you’re pulling the recipient into your sales message, not just telling them who you are.You’ve got limited space, so be sure that your headline grabs ‘em by the eyeballs and pulls ‘em into your marketing message.
Add sales copy. While you won’t have a lot of space to write a full-blown sales letter, you can add a tagline that encapsulates your sales message. For instance, my business card says, “Deb writes. You profit. It’s that simple.” The copy gets straight to the point and lets the recipient know how they’ll benefit from my services.
Use both sides of the card. Business cards are inexpensive these days, so it pays to take advantage of two-sided printing. Use the back of the card as a continuation of the front, highlighting how your business can benefit the recipient.
List your services. The back of the card is a good place to list a full menu of the products and services you offer. If there are too many to list, highlight the biggest sellers, and be sure to indicate that there’s more available at your website, storefront, etc.
Add your picture. Adding a picture is very important to your branding strategy. You want the recipient of your card to identify YOU with the product or service you’re selling. You don’t have to take a professional photo. Ask someone to take a picture with a digital camera, crop it to a headshot, and upload it to the front (or back) of the business card. Online print shops make this easy to do.
Add a website address. Today, potential customers and clients are more likely to check out your products and services online before they contact you. If you don’t have a website, don’t worry. It’s easy to do. Buy a domain name and a hosting plan, and you can use a website wizard that will do all the hard work for you. Some will even write the copy for you. By having a website that sells, you’ll get more mileage out of your business card.

Don’t overlook your business cards when it comes to developing a powerful marketing message. Consider them prime real estate for marketing your business. Make them stand out, develop a sales message that rocks, and then step back and watch your business grow.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Deb_Mills

The definition of Marketing is the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling. This includes everything from how your phone is answered to your voicemail to how your employees are dressed to how your business cards look to how your offices are decorated. Everything speaks in marketing.

Most people jump into their business and start running full steam ahead without a strategy or a plan for how to market their service or product. This is like going into battle and saying ‘Ready’, ‘Fire’… ‘Aim’. The steps are out of order. You get ready and aim at your target. Once its in your sights, you fire. The same order of things occurs when developing a marketing plan.

Your Marketing system should include goals, activities, and specific strategies for how to accomplish the above mentioned tasks. Some research into what the market wants is imperative. Remember we’re living in a microwave society. People want things quick, fast, and in a hurry, with the least amount of inconvenience to them. So one of the questions you have to ask yourself is what is the quickest, safest, most cost effective way to get your product to the purchaser? Can it be delivered electronically? Does it need to be sent by a mail carrier? How will the costs of these avenues be figured in?

Traditional marketing tries to appeal to the masses, but it would be better to locate your niche, or those who are specifically interested in what you’re offering, and appeal to them. That way your percentage of conversions will be greater and you won’t waste time and money on people who are not at all interested in what you’re offering. You want to spend your marketing energy on clients who want what you have.

Your system should initially include a Social Marketing strategy which incorporates sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and a Content Marketing strategy like articles, videos, or press releases. You can also include a paid Marketing strategy like PPC or banner advertising, if you have a bit of a budget to work with. To start out, you should pick one strategy and master it. Once you’ve gotten that one mastered, add another. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin from a time and a money standpoint. You want to do what works.

Once you’ve selected these, specify the exact tasks that need to be done daily in order to achieve the goals. For example, on Facebook, you should find and join groups of individuals that are interested in your products or services. Connect with people who are going in the same direction as you. Provide value to these groups and individuals. Don’t just pitch your business. That is a huge turn off.

Be mindful of your time management. If you’re not careful you could find yourself spending hours doing tasks that are not directly connected to the goals you’ve set. Scheduling of your time is a key element. Prioritize the money-making tasks. Of course, supporting tasks must be done. But be mindful of the time you give to them. Some things are good to do, but they don’t add value and thus don’t make you any money.

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There are many opportunities that come with owning a pest control business. For example, you can base your whole business around servicing apartment complexes. Or your could specialize in treating for one certain pest, such as bedbugs.

One of the most underutilized forms of a pest management business is partnering with other service businesses. Most pest businesses just put an ad in the yellow pages and wait for calls to come in. In this day in age, if that is your only marketing strategy, it won’t be long before you’re left behind by the competition.

Think about this… if someone is willing to pay for one service, such as getting their lawn mowed or getting their windows cleaned, chances are that they will also pay for a pest service.

With just a little creativity, you can find ways to capitalize on these customers with only a little bit of extra work. Consider contacting service companies in your area and coming up with an agreement where you pay them a fixed amount for each customer that they refer that signs a service agreement with you.

You could also form agreements with other service companies where you sell bundled packages to new customers. For example, instead of just getting their house sprayed for bugs each quarter, a lot of customers would love to have their windows washed each quarter as well.

Another idea is to offer to pay for fliers to be designed and printed for them, as long as you get to dedicate 25% of the flyer to promoting your service.

Once you start thinking of creative ways to market your services, you’ll find there are endless ideas and ways to get your message in front of targeted customers that will love your service.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nate_Heller

Catering truck are a common sight in your neighborhood and across the industrial development areas. People working as factory workers and office employees depend on these catering trucks for their daily breakfast and lunch as the working area is far away from the city limits. Mobile food service has been in existence for more than two decades where before the catering trucks were introduced, vendors used wooden or metal carts for their mobile food service.

With stringent laws introduced by government to have a clean environment for mobile food services, vendors were asked to upgrade to these catering trucks which were equipped with latest modular kitchen equipments and modern sanitary solutions which provided a hygienic environment to prevent any diseases. With the new technology providing platform for newer designs and equipments, it has become easy for a vendor to choose the exact truck that will serve his purpose.

Catering trucks are known to increase the profits when compared with stationary restaurants. As stationary restaurants are visited by people in and around the surrounding areas, they have limited number of customer base. As they can move from one location to another, they have a huge customer base. This is one of the foremost advantages associated with mobile food service business.

If you are planning to get into the mobile food service business, the only initial investment that you will have to make is on the vehicle. You should choose from a wide variety of models that are available in the market which cater to different needs of the vendors. Once you choose the vehicle, the next investment would be the equipments that are required in the kitchen such as stainless steel sinks, ovens, refrigerator and provision for proper water source. Many of the trucks have an in-built water tank which serves the purpose of washing utensils.

Apart from the little investment you are also required to obtain the mobile food service vendor license from the government. You can approach the local government officials who would help you out understand more about obtaining the license and other important requirements that are to be fulfilled. If you are unable to invest money in acquiring a new catering truck, you can also look out for the used truck sales which have all the equipments that are necessary for you to start of your mobile food service business.

The other way where you can quickly start of your catering truck business is by approaching a franchise. All you have to do is buy the product of the franchise and in return they will provide you with the catering truck equipped with all the necessary equipments. The menu have to be carefully designed in order to meet all the requirements of the different locations. You can also increase the customer base by providing quality and variety food items along with increased and new services which will attract the customers. Catering trucks is the new dimension in mobile food service which provides good profits in short period of time.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yew_Chin

If your business is small, that does not mean that you can afford to lose client. And – unfortunately – one bad blog comment or forum post that has managed to rank Google page 1 for the name of your brand (product, service, etc.) can seriously damage your sales.

But what if my market is just 100 clients? I cannot afford to pay for the expensive PR games!

Luckily you should not pay any big money, because new technologies will help you to go through the process of protecting the reputation of your brand/product/service at a fraction of a cost.

This is how it becomes possible…

Instead of using simple online PR, you can use PR + SEO. For those of you who do not know what SEO means, this is search engine optimization and the aim of SEO is to push a certain web page to higher ranks in search engines.

This can sound strange, but PR + SEO costs LESS that simply PR. But this is a fact.

Instead of creating tons of info, you can create just a few public opinion units (article or press release or video or forum post or blog publication or blog comment) and then – with the help of SEO instruments – you can push these public opinion units up in search engine ranks. And you control on what keywords you are pushing them.

No longer you need to disperse the efforts, create tons of info and then hope that sooner or later it will rank well. Instead you create just a few different publications, push them up for the keywords you need – and the reputation is protected.

So, do the comparison game yourself. On hand, budget for creation of dozens of articles, press releases, media buzz (most likely this will cost you a few thousand USD at least!) or just a few publications pushed up with SEO instruments to page 1 for the keywords that you need (most likely this will cost you a few hundreds of bucks).

Several thousand USD vs few hundreds USD.

For the owner of small business with small budget the frugality of the later option is obvious. And with a few-to-several sales the owner will compensate the expenses. In any case you will lose these sales if you don’t work proactively and do not “control” what people see in search engines for the name of your brand/product/service.

As you can see, PR can be frugal, provided it is done together with SEO. And looks like this combination of PR+SEO has great chances to become a new trend on the market of public relations.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nickolay_Bokhonok

All of us wants to have our own business someday. But did you know that with the advent of the Internet, we no longer need a big capital just to get a business started? And there are now a lot of online business ideas that we can try and often, we do not have to understand the technicalities of how websites are created and work. Just the basic would be enough.

Perhaps that is what most people are afraid of, the technical side of having an Internet based business. But the good news is that there are certain services and products that make this a very simple process. With some of these services, they make website creation and online marketing just a point and click regimen. That is a truly welcome news for all those entrepreneurial spirits who would like to try their luck on the World Wide Web.

I have listed here just five of the online business ideas that you can give a shot and see if Internet marketing is your thing.

1. Offer your professional services.

Starting an online business can be made easier if you are offering your own services. And right now, almost any job can be done over the web. For example, if you are a writer even for print, you can translate that into a writing business online. You can focus on writing website copy or sales copy. Whatever is your comfort zone, you can easily offer that as a service.

2. Try affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most lucrative online businesses out there, but can also be one of the most competitive arena that you can enter. There are a lot of techniques that expert affiliates are doing just to get as many referrals to their affiliate products. You can start with focusing on just one affiliate product and aim to get as many people as possible that can view your sales copy and point them to the right direction.

3. Sell on auction sites.

There are websites that are offering auctioning services where people can sell an item and let those who are interested on it to bid for the best price. This works better if you are selling hard to find items or collector’s editions of a certain product.

4. Earn through ads on your website.

If you have a really good website, with good copy and a high website traffic then you can sell advertising space on your website. You may want to focus on just one topic or niche so that advertisers can easily recognize the viability of advertising on your site.

5. Sell a digital product.

Selling a digital product is always one of the best online business ideas. You can sell an ebook or software and just like with anything else online, it is a good idea if you can focus on just one niche. Ebooks are generally cheaper and you may need to sell a lot more of it just to earn a bigger income. Software products are often more expensive because it is not easy to create one and especially if that product makes anyone’s life much easier and convenient whenever using it.

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